Epsilon Archive for Student Projects

Abstract

Climate change in coastal areas implies sea level rise and more frequent extreme weather events causing floods. Floods cause property damage and risk to people as the coastal zones many times are built and developed environments. Besides from this, the coastal zones have high ecological values connected to the coastal dynamics. ‘Coastal squeeze ‘ occurs when ecological values are obstructed to migrate inland by built environments, currently a common situation. In Bunkeflostrand and Klagshamn in southern Sweden, coastal squeeze is a fact, and as sea levels rise, much of the ecological values could be lost by year 2100.
Conventional and traditional methods to control water are being questioned, the integration of natural features is gaining attention and innovation is advocated in the aspiration to a sustainable development for our common future.
Following reading will take you through the outlook of coastal planning and management, and display international approaches to address climate adaptation for coastal zones. Thereafter, some examples will be applied to the Bunkeflostrand and Klagshamn context with the ambition to identify benefits and tradeoffs from the sustainability aspect.
The results show that conventional methods may not always be the worst solution, and that natural features may not be the better - the combination of various structures and methods may constitute a sequential line of defense. Other results show that ecological benefits many times imply socio-economic tradeoffs, and vice versa. Sometimes an ecological long-term benefit even implies ecological tradeoffs. The results also show that sustainability may conflict with the Sustainable Development Goals, depending on the focus.
To assess the best possible solutions, climate adaptation for coastal zones require multidisciplinary collaboration and investigations between agencies, the state, municipalities, planners and designers.